The White Sox had lost the 1919 World Series. Rumors of the “fix” had set itself as truth with many in the baseball world. Some players felt remorse at their involvement. Joe Jackson waited all afternoon, one day following the season, to talk with Commiskey. He had a dirty envelope with $5,000 in it. Commiskey did not want to deal with the problem. Jackson went back home to the South without telling his story. The truth was that Commiskey knew about the scandal, but thought it would harm his ball club to deal with it. Goodness.

Sportswriters played the biggest part in exposing the scandal to the public and pushing it towards a Grand Jury.  Writers like Hugh Fullerton and Ring Lardner did their best to expose the fix through newspaper articles.  Their anger at the wrecking of the national pastime turned itself into the written word.  Goodness.

With the constant pressure, all groups started to crack. Billy Maharg, Sleepy Bill Burn’s partner, came forward to talk about the “fix”. Baseball was finally forced to deal with it. A Grand Jury was formed. Then the players began to crack. First was Eddie Cicotte and then Shoeless Joe Jackson. Everything was exposed. Goodness. The players were acquitted by the Grand Jury, but not so lucky with baseball. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis became Commissioner of Baseball and banned all eight players for life. Goodness. Many of the players could not leave baseball. They played in other leagues for years. Both Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver tried to get reinstated based on their play during the World Series. Attempts to clear their names continue today.

Years later Ty Cobb stopped into Shoeless Joe Jackson’s liquor store in South Carolina. Ty Cobb asked Jackson if he recognized him. Jackson said “yes” but he was surprised the Cobb would want to talk to him, none of the other guys wanted to. Ty Cobb told Jackson he was one of the best and that he wanted an autographed baseball. Jackson told him to come back the next day to get it. He could have given him one right there, but after all those years he still couldn’t sign his name. Ty Cobb never returned to get his baseball. Goodness. 

The picture below is of a button for Shoeless Joe and does not reflect any belief of Superhero Historians.